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Dear Parishioners, Please save the date: 12.00pm, Sunday 20 July 2025. I would like to invite you to a celebration of ‘Family, Love, and Faithfulness Day’. This is an Orthodox celebration founded in honour of the righteous prince St Peter of Murom and his wife, St Fevronia, patrons of marriage and family. The program will include a short presentation about the meaning of the event, followed by a concert of folkloric songs and dances with traditional musical instruments by the 'Zabava' ensemble, and other items of celebration, ending with a round dance by all willing and able, led by the choreographer and teacher Luba Baksheev. In recent decades we have not had many such events. It promises to be a thoroughly enjoyable experience. With free entry- you can't go wrong. See you there! Fr Nicholas Karipoff  An Important Notice Concerning Children and Young People from the Holy Protection Cathedral Brunswick27/6/2025 The Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (Australian Diocese) has since 2013 had in place Policies and Protocols for the care, protection and safe ministry regarding Children and Young People. We are greatly indebted to the wisdom and Godly insight of our late Metropolitan Hilarion of thrice blessed memory in bringing about their introduction. ROCOR in fact was the first Orthodox Jurisdiction in Australia that adopted and put in place such policies and protocols. They are constantly under review to ensure that the highest standards are observed both from the standpoint of our obligations under Australian Law and also with regard to the Holy Tradition of the Church and its Canons. The Holy Protection Cathedral Parish, the Clergy, Parish Council and Laity wish all people to know and understand that we have a ZERO tolerance approach towards any and all abuse or mistreatment of anyone, let alone children and minors. We take seriously our Lord’s injunction “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin.” (Luke 17:2). We fully implement and observe all the requirements of the Holy Archdiocese in these matters together with our obligations under civil law. The Clergy are acutely aware of their obligations both as Ministers of Christ and the Holy Church and also as leaders in a secular way of an organisation that has particular and direct legal obligations. If they fail to do so then there are severe penalties which will be imposed upon them. We recognise that we live in a fallen and imperfect world, where despite the sincerest intentions and the best efforts of any organisation, wrongs and hardships can still arise. When such situations occur, our response is to turn to God in prayer, asking for His guidance and strength to seek healing, restoration, and reconciliation. We pray for those who have been affected. For many such events lead to sinful anger, threats and sometimes wrongdoing. Yet we are reminded by the blessed Apostle St Paul “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath,” (Ephesians 4:26). In other words, it is right to be angry at the sinful actions of others but we need and must deal with both our response to anger promptly lest it cause us to fall into sin. This is part of our Orthodox Struggle to attain mind and heart of Christ in our lives. It is no easy task, however if you find the struggle too great then seek assistance from a spiritual father, from prayer and study of the Holy Scriptures. Comments are closed.
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